First Meetings
by Planet Mads
Summary: The children of Thranduil are meeting up with the sons of Elrond. What mischeif will they cause? And what dangers will evolve out of it?(Finished)
1. Chapter One

Author's notes: I hope you like this, it's my second Legolas as a child fic. And I'm including Elladan and Elrohir!

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings and characters belong to the great master Tolkien.

First Meetings.

            Máraran, Queen of Greenwood walked down the corridors of her Kingdom. Celebrian, who she had grown up with and was her best friend, had sent her a letter. Celebrian and her husband Elrond had just celebrated their daughters fifteenth birthday. Celebrian wanted their children to meet, and seeing as they hadn't seen each other in a while Máraran had decided it would be a nice idea. So they were preparing to leave for Lorien, for a big meeting. Pushing the doors open she looked upon her children. Beren her eldest was tickling Lúthien her only daughter, while her youngest was standing there fiddling with his braid. She smiled slightly, Legolas was defiantly the innocent of the three . . . . in looks of course. She walked over gently dropping to her knees beside him, she opened her arms and he ran into them. She ruffled his hair gently.

"How are you my Little Greenleaf?"

"I'm fine Amme*, why are we going to Lorien?"

"To meet some very good friends of mine."

"Alright."

Smiling Máraran took Legolas's hand in her own and walked out the door. Once they realised that their mother and brother were gone, Beren and Lúthien turned and ran after them.

            It had taken them longer than expected to get to Lorien, and it was the children's first time to the golden wood. Beren was on his own horse, while Lúthien was behind Thranduil and Legolas behind Máraran. Legolas peered into the trees, his mouth open in an 'o' of delight.

"The trees are very beautiful Amme." Lúthien whispered, her eyes widening slightly.

"I'm glad you like it. I grew up here."

Lúthien smiled before narrowing her eyes. A group of elves were approaching on foot. Lúthien stared at them, trying to work out who they were. But Legolas beat her too it.

"Haldir!"

Legolas jumped down from the horse and bolted over to the elf. Haldir had visited Greenwood when Galadriel and Celeborn had come once. And had always been the one to bear messages since as the children had loved him so. The small blonde wrapped his arms round the elder elf's waist. Haldir ruffled the child's hair, laughing slightly.

"Welcome to Lorien."

"We are very happy to be here." Came Legolas's muffled voice from where he was hugging Haldir. A wave of laughter came up at that, though Legolas couldn't quite understand why they were laughing. The adults then went into a 'grown-up conversation' as Legolas and his siblings put it. Legolas had been standing to the side running his fingers through the leaves of a nearby bush, while they had chatted for at least half an hour he had become very bored. Seeing no one looking at him Legolas turned and wandered off into the woods.

            After a while of walking around Legolas heard a distant yelling. Being he curious elfling he was, Legolas went strait towards the area the sound was coming from. Legolas stared from his place behind a tree, three elves stood before him. He knew only one of them, an elf by the name of Ereinion and he was presently yelling at a pair of elves. They were twins, both having long dark brown hair.

"We didn't mean too - "

"Didn't mean too! You tied my brother to a tree and dumped mud all over him!"

"Well . . . . um . . . ."

Legolas would never work out why he did what he did then. Running over he stood in-between the twins and Ereinion.

"It was me Ereinion, I'm sorry but you know me and my tricks."

 Ereinion opened his mouth to reply, but Legolas cut him off. His eyes widened and he clasped his hands behind his back. And in a sweet innocent voice he whispered, "I'm very sorry Ereinion, I really really am. I won't happen again, I won't do anything to your brother."

He swung side to side slightly as he spoke to the elf, a sweet smile plastered across his face.

"Alright, just be good alright."

Legolas nodded and he waited until the elf had vanished from view before turning to the pair in front of him. Two sets of silver eyes bore into Legolas, the elf squirmed slightly under their gaze.

"Why did you do that?" The one on the left said.

"I don't know, I just felt I should."

"Do you play tricks?" This time it was the one on the right.

"Yes."

They both nodded and then in perfect unison exclaimed, "How did you get Ereinion to leave?"

"Oh, that it's what my brother and sister call my 'innocent' face. The only people I know that ca resist it are my family, Elerossë, Haldir and Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. And well . . you of course."

The twins both smiled, extending two hands towards Legolas."

"Elladan and Elrohir at your service. What's your name?"

"Legolas."

"Nice to meet you, I think this may be the start to a beautiful friendship."

Legolas smiled his eyes lighting up, "I couldn't agree more."

            Máraran sighed, they hadn't realised Legolas was gone for a while. And when they finally did they couldn't find him. He was an expert when it came to hiding form people. Probably because he spent most of his time hiding from his father and Elerossë when he and his siblings played tricks. She looked up when Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond and Celebrian walked over.

"Máraran!"

"Celebrian!"

The two ladies ran over, hugging each other tightly. Celebrian's dark golden hair, falling about her shoulders in waves.

"It has been far too long!"

"I agree, I agree" Celebrian paused peering over her friend's shoulder, "I thought you had three children?"

Máraran smirked slightly, "I thought you _actually _had children."

Celebrian laughed, "I suppose I cannot talk. The twins are off somewhere, and we couldn't bring Arwen. She's too young to travel."

The elven queen nodded, Legolas was only just old enough to be taken anywhere and only short distances. There was a sudden yell of surprise and a crashing sound from somewhere near them. Máraran heard Elrond mutter a "Please, not now. Please, please let them behave."

Before the group turned and ran off into the forest, they came upon a most unusual sight. An elf was lying on the floor, covered from top to toe in honey. Bees were hovering about him, and the elf was occasionally swatting them away but apart from that he was just staring at the three in front of him.

"You see Mister elf we really didn't mean to drop the honey on you honest."

The elf sighed and nodded, unable to yell at such an innocent creature. Standing up he turned and walked away, his fingers running through his sticky hair. The second he had left the three turned to each other and smiled wickedly.

"And that my friends" Elladan said, in a evil tone, "Is just the beginning."

"I think" Celebrian whispered, "Our sons have already met."

The group just nodded, not knowing what to say to that.

            Legolas smiled at the sun from his position on his window sill. Yesterday had been fun, after his parents had found him he had been introduced to Elrond and Celebrian. They had spent most of the evening talking to each other, before the children were sent to bed. Elrohir and Elladan were really interesting people, odd but interesting. His brother and sister found them nice to and they had spent a while chatting about them before Lúthien and Beren had gone to their own rooms. Legolas hummed to himself as he pulled a leg up to his chin, today would be interesting he was sure of that. A tapping on his door told him that his siblings were awake.

"Come in."

Two heads popped round the door, smiles on their faces.

"Legolas, we have to go the twins have an idea!"

Nodding the blonde, ran over to the door when a bellow reached their ears.

"My little princes and princess if you even think of going _anywhere _and playing _any _tricks I may have to hang you up by tour feet. Especially after yesterday!"

Legolas pulled Beren and Lúthien into his room and locked the door. Giggling they made their way to the window and climbing onto some of the limbs of the tree they made their way down. Running across the grounds laughing merrily the three made their way towards the twins.

            Haldir scanned the bushes, after Elerossë had told him that the children of Thranduil had escaped he had know they were going to meet a certain pair of twins. Which meant that the whole of Lorien was in trouble, why oh why did their parents insist on making them meet up? If two or three trouble makers was bad enough, there were now five! So he, Glorfindel and Elerossë had split up and were searching for them. The elf didn't know why but the lords and ladies always seemed to send them off to catch the children. Maybe it was because they knew the elflings and usually weren't fooled by their tricks, maybe it was because the three were quite high up in the ranks, maybe it was because the three were best friends and enjoyed capturing the elflings. He would never work it out. He stepped under a tree and cried out as his feet flew from beneath him. He glanced around glaring, he was in a net which had been covered in leaves. He growled sitting up slightly, he looked up and his mouth dropped open. The five elflings he had been searching for were on a branch just out of his reach, and each had a bucket in their hands. Legolas smiled evilly for someone who was hailed as the beautiful, adorable, innocent son of Thranduil, and poured the contents of the bucket out. Haldir was splattered in mud, he wiped the substance from his eyes and looked up. Only to have two buckets of tar thrown over him, the elf turned and spat the tar from his mouth. He desperately hoped that if he didn't look up, they wouldn't throw any more things over him. He had no such luck, two buckets of feather cascaded through the air, landing and sticking to the elf below. And array of giggles sounded above him.

"Haldir looks like a chicken."

The elf screamed in rage, reaching for the knife on his belt. The children screamed, jumping from the trees and running away.

            Glorfindel and Elerossë ran into a clearing only to see a flurry of leaves and hear a large thump as something hit the ground. Glancing up they saw the remainders of a net. Haldir stood up from beneath it. Not a inch of him was clean, and he looked like a some sort of dishevelled bird. He noticed the other two and sent them a glare as he walked over.

"Don't say a word." He hissed as he pointed a finger at the two, who were trying not to laugh and fighting a loosing battle. They burst into pails of laughter, clutching their sides as tears of mirth made their way down their faces.

"Fine" Haldir cried out, "_YOU _go find them and bring them back, I shall not be helping you."

This stopped the elves from laughing and they looked at Haldir dumbfounded.

"They went that way." He said pointing vaguely and sending the pair a nasty smirk as he turned and walked off. The two glanced at each other, "We are going to die."

            Meanwhile five elflings had made their way to the river, and were presently sitting on it's bank with their feet in the water.

"Did you see the look on his face?"

Legolas's giggles were Elrohir's reply.

"I do not think I have been so happy since the time Legolas accidentally on purpose knocked Golradir into the pond."

Lúthien giggled, Golradir was a rather stuck up elf that was one of their teachers. He was strict and in their opinion shouldn't be teaching as he seemed to hate children, or he liked to yell lots and be incredibly strict and wanted to punish people lots and lots. They all giggled but stopped when they heard a calm voice from behind them.

"What do you think? Should we hand them up in the dungeons?"

They turned round to see Glorfindel and Elerossë smiling down on them. One of those smiles that said, first I'm going to chase you then I'm going to torture you till you beg for mercy and that's before I've even handed you over to your parents. They froze for a second before screaming, grabbing their shoes and running up the river bank. Glorfindel and Elerossë glanced at each other before turning and bolting after them. The pair lost sight of them as the children went round the bend and when they reached the bend themselves , they were gone. Muttering about evil children they went off into the forest for them. Once the two had vanished a small giggle came from one of the boats lining the shore. The five were lying on the bottom of the boat trying hard not to laugh. When they had managed to stop their silent laughter Beren whispered, "We should stay here for a while. We can play in the boat and if we here someone coming we can hide in the bottom."

Everyone nodded and sat up, starting to talk, their happy voice filling the air. They stayed there for hours, talking and laughing together before their activities finally got to them. And lying down, they cuddled up thinking up new tricks. Maybe they didn't notice that the boat was rocking more fiercely, maybe they didn't notice that the land was slowly passing them by or they may have but had taken no notice of it. For if they did they would have realised that they were floating down stream and out of Lorien.

Elvish translations.

Amme: Mother

Characters guide.

King Thranduil: Legolas's father.

Queen Máraran: Legolas's mother.

Crown prince Beren: Legolas's brother. 

Princess Lúthien: Legolas's sister.

Elerossë: Captain of Mirkwood, good friend of Thranduil.

Lord Elrond: Lord of Rivendell, husband of Celebrian.

Lady Celebrian: Best friend of Máraran. Mother of Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen.

Elladan: First of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Elrohir: Second of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Arwen: Only daughter of Elrond and Celebrian.

Glorfindel: Elven lord, advisor and good friend of Elrond.

Galadriel: Lady of Lorien and Mother of Celebrian.

Celeborn: Lord of Lorien and father of Celebrian.

Haldir: Master archer of Lorien. Good friend to Glorfindel and Elerossë.

Ereinion: An elf of Lorien.


	2. Chapter Two

Author's notes: This chapter is going to contain more action, I apologise for any Grammar or spelling mistakes. I do try my best but I am truly awful at it! I haven't been able to really grasp Elrohir's and Elladan's characters yet. I'm still working on polishing them up, and they may not play that big of a role in this chapter.

Disclaimer: On first chapter if needed.

First Meetings. Chapter Two.

            Glorfindel sighed, fear was beginning to get the better of him. The children had been missing for three hours now and no tricks had been played. Usually they had either been caught or given up and muttered a "Sorry" and gotten back to being good for a while. He looked up from where he was as Elerossë and Haldir walked in.

"No luck?"

They both shook their heads, and sat down heavily beside the blonde. The three stared at their hands, desperately searching for a way to lure them out if something hadn't already happened to them. Their heads snapped up as their parents walked in. They stared questioningly at the trio.

"What happened to you Haldir?"

Haldir forced his hands not to reach out to his hair which had turned a murky grey.

"You're children Lady Celebrian."

"Oh."

Celeborn and Galadriel walked in, worry on their faces.

"I cannot feel the children's presence in Lorien."

            Legolas blinked, trying to get the sleep from his eyes. He had fallen asleep to the quiet chatter of his family and friends. Glancing over he realised they had also fallen asleep. He blinked again when he felt the boat bang into something. Elerossë and Glorfindel must have found them! Peering over the edge of the boat Legolas gasped. They were going down stream, they had left Lorien behind ages ago.

"Beren!"

"What – what is it?"

Beren asked, rubbing his dark blue eyes sleepily.

"We've left Lorien."

**"What!"**

Beren's cry woke up the other three, which caused complete chaos as the children cried out in dismay.

"Everybody be quiet!" Beren yelled, "We're not going to get any where like this. Has anybody got any ideas of how to get out. One at a time."

"Well" Lúthien whispered, rubbing her nose in concentration, "We could get out the boat and walk back up along the river. It would lead us back to Lorien."

"Yes" Elladan cried out, "And I'm sure that Elerossë, Glorfindel and Haldir will be looking for us. So if we go back up they'll find us  quicker."

"One problem."

"What Elrohir?"

"How do we stop?"

Four blank faces stared at the brunette. Then the five all bent their heads, going into thinking mode. Legolas glanced over to the side and noticed the rope trailing in the water.

"I've got it!" He declared, as he leant over and pulled the rope in. He looped it like a lasso and started to swing it round in circles, his eyes fixed on a tree on the river bank. Letting it go, it landed half way across the river, growling he pulled it back in and tried again. This time it latched onto the branch, effectively pulling them to a stop. The boat banged against the side of the river, and smiling the children scrambled out. And turning they set off, walking back up the river.

            Máraran bit her lip, trying hard not to cry. Her children were lost somewhere outside and they had no means to protect themselves with. She didn't blame Elerossë, she couldn't, they had tried their best. But she knew how hard it was to keep an eye an all three of then at the same time, and now there was five! She shook her head, trying not to dwell on it. She looked up as Thranduil and Elrond walked in, they both shook their heads. Celebrian, who had been sitting next to Máraran, burst into tears. Reaching over the Queen pulled her best friend into a hug as her own tears made their way down her face. Celeborn walked over, "Nobody saw them leave. I don't know how they got away."

Their three advisors walked in, their faces dark. Máraran could practically feel the guilt radiating off them. She offered them a small smile, the best she could manage at this point in time.

"Where did you see them last?" Celebrian whispered as Galadriel joined them.

"They went round the river bend, where they keep the boats."

Everyone froze, then turned and ran from the room to the river.

            Legolas hummed to himself as he walked along the river bank. He looked over at his new friends, they were smiling brightly. Obviously enjoying being out without their parents. Legolas had to admit, it was nice knowing that they were taking care of themselves without  having someone watch them like a hawk. Hawk eyes . . . . that's what they called Elerossë, for he watched their every move. Either making sure they were alright or stopping them from playing tricks on people. He giggled to himself, Elerossë would be furious if he knew they called him that. He looked up at the sky, the sun was getting close to setting. Which meant they had to get back to Lorien in the few hours they had left. Which, Legolas mused as he looked up at the river's long path, might be impossible. Their pace quickened and Legolas reasoned that the others had worked it out as well. Determination was written across their faces. They were going to prove that they could take care of themselves!

            Máraran tried to stop her hands from shaking, as she watched Celeborn examine the snapped rope that they had found attached to a peg on the riverside.

"It wasn't made probably, if quite a big weight was pulling on it, then it would snap."

Celebrian buried her face in her hands, rocking slightly on the balls of her feet. Elrond wrapped his arms round her, trying to comfort her.

"Wouldn't they have noticed the boat moving?" Thranduil whispered, for once the elven king seemed at a loss of what to think or do.

"Maybe, but seeing as they spent all morning running around their senses may have been slow."

The children's abilities weren't the best in Middle-earth, for they were still young and it would take time to improve them. So if they had been tired then they would have noticed nothing. Thranduil nodded slightly, turning and staring off into the distance.

"You are all giving up!"

The eight turned to look at Máraran. In a matter of seconds her features had changed from a fragile worried mother, to an angry she-elf with the ability to kill anyone who crossed her path.

"We know they have gone down stream, so why not go get them back?"

Thranduil kept his mouth shut, knowing there was no way he was going to stop her from marching after her children. Sadly Haldir did not know this.

"My Lady, they have been gone for hours you can not - "

Haldir was cut off when Máraran walked up to him and had grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him into the air.

"My children are out in the world, and nothing shall stop me from getting to them. I do not care if they have had many an hour head start on me, I do not care if I am supposed to stay here and be lady like and comfort my people, I do not care if all the Valar are against me. I am going to get to my children."

And with that she dropped him on the floor and spun round and marched off. Celebrian ripped herself from Elrond's arms and followed her, just as determined as her best friend. Elrond mused where his wife got her stubborn and impulsive side from, Galadriel or Celeborn. As he turned and went after her. Knowing that any creature that hurt the little ones would find themselves wishing they had never been born.

            The little ones at this point in time had stopped for a break. Only to have a drink as one can get rather thirsty when they are travailing as fast as they can. Legolas smiled as he watched Elladan pat his rumbling stomach. Elves didn't need to eat much but they had had nothing today and very little over the past few days and it was beginning to get to them. Though Legolas didn't mind, as the elfling had a small apatite even for an elf and wasn't feeling that hungry at all. Lúthien glared at her little brother as he started to sing, she wasn't in a very happy mood. The walking part of adventures weren't that fun.

"Do be quite Legolas!"

"Why?"

"Because we are having a bad day and your happiness is annoying me."

"When you feel bad you should try and smile." The four turned to look at the blonde, their eyebrows raised.

"We'll never get anywhere if we don't try and look at the good side of things. I'm sure all those special and brave elves didn't get into bad moods when they were saving Middle-Earth."

"For someone so young you are smart."

Surprisingly to Beren who had meant to provoke Legolas, the child laughed.

"You sounded like Elerossë then."

This caused a roar of laughter, and the five set on with lighter hearts.

            Celebrian looked over at her long time friend. The elven Queen was dressed in riding gear and no longer looked the proud wife of a King. Her looks reminded her of their childhood and their many adventures. Máraran obviously had the same thoughts as she looked up at her friend, who was also dressed in riding gear.

"Here we go again."

"Yes, but this time we are not getting into trouble, we are saving someone else from trouble."

Máraran smiled grimly, before mounted her horse and kicking her into a canter. The grey and brown horses carried their riders at the speed near impossible to see apart from the rising cloud of dust left behind them. As they set out to retrieve their lost children.

"This is the point in time where we wish our wives weren't so impulsive." Thranduil murmured to Elrond as he ran to his own horse. Galadriel and Celeborn following them to the stables.

            Beren glared at the dancing shadows as night descended upon them. He had an odd feeling something was out there, whatever it was it wasn't going to get his little sister and brother. If he had to, he would protect them with his life. They had gathered a few dry branches and had managed to make a small fire. Legolas had curled up in a ball with his head resting on Lúthien's lap. He smiled, many people thought Legolas was a lot wiser and acted more grown-up than he was. But Beren knew the truth, it was his innocence. Sure every small child had innocence but his little brother's was special. His innocence was more pure and showed the child everything in a new light. He could look at a bad situation, be able to find a good side to it and be able to work out how to solve the problem. It was his childish innocence that did that. And the child used it to his full advantage. Elladan and Elrohir where sitting opposite them looking a bit scared, their back were facing a group of trees not far off. Which didn't look very nice. Lúthien gestured them over and the pair happily came and sat down beside Beren. They started talking with the brunette quietly, while Lúthien tried to sort out Legolas's hair. The small one wasn't that organised and he hadn't brushed his hair that morning just quickly braided it. The girl gently undid his hair and began t run her fingers through it, trying to take out the tangles. A pair of huge silvery blue eyes turned and stared at her. She smiled as he and reached out with his arms and hugged her round the middle. She pulled her little brother onto her lap and hugged him tightly, sure she teased him like any other sibling but she loved him.

"I'm thirsty Lúthien." Legolas whispered in her ear, and pulling himself out of her arms he scrambled over to the river. The she-elf joined her brother in kneeling beside the river and taking a drink. The other three soon came as well and they all started drinking from the clear water. There was a snap of a twig just behind them, which only Elrohir heard. The child froze, the water running from his hands back into the river.

"What is it Ro?" Elladan asked turning his head to look at his twin. The pair were connected, if one was hurt the other could feel the pain slightly, they were aware of the others feelings the second they changed. Elrohir didn't reply he just stared into the water where a pair of yellow eyes stared back. Elladan opened his mouth to cry out but Elrohir clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Pretend you haven't noticed." Elrohir hissed, and when I say run, you run."

The other four nodded, and they watched as the warg bent down to pounce.

"Get ready." The child whispered as the creature moved to capture it's prey.

"Now!" He cried out as the warg sprung forward. They rolled out the way as it jumped to where they had been standing seconds before. It skidded and fell into the water, howling. Dark shapes filtered into view from the trees, as the rest of the warg's pack had been called to help. The children stopped running towards the trees, as the pack made it's way towards them.

"Back to the river!" Elladan yelled turning on his heels and running. The others followed only to see the warg climb out of the river. It jumped at them and they split. Beren, Lúthien, Legolas and Elladan one way, Elrohir the other. The warg rounded on the lone elf, making him back away towards the river. It raised it's paw to strike Elrohir down when something jumped on it's back. A pair of hands grasped it's throat, squeezing tightly.

"Leave Ro alone!"

The warg shook his body back and forth throwing Elladan off him. The elfling was sprawled on the floor. The warg jumped towards him, claws stretched out. When a pair of arms wrapped round his waist and pulled him away. Elladan smiled up at his twin, "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime."

Elrohir said as he pulled his brother to his feet and stared at the group of wargs that were set on killing them. Looking round the pair realised there was no way that they could get past all of them and not manage to get hurt or killed.

"Jump into the river."

"Elrohir are you mad?" Beren hissed, "We'll get swept down stream. We could drown."

"We'll get away from the wargs and I'm sure we can make it to the other side."

"Very well."

Beren said and taking a deep breath he jumped in, his siblings and friends followed suit.

            Water engulfed Legolas as he was pulled down to the bottom of the water. He kicked desperately with his legs as he tried to reach the surface. He burst through surface of the water, gasping for breath. He remembered he was supposed to be swimming and struck out for the shore. Though it was rather difficult as he was being pulled down stream at the same time as he was trying to get across the river. He could see Beren and Lúthien were a lot further down stream and were quite close to reaching the shore. They always had been good swimmers, he thought when a splash got his attention. Looking over his shoulder he could see the wargs had jumped in the water and were paddling after them. Legolas cried out and started swimming faster, coming closer to catching up with Elrohir and Elladan. His siblings had reached the shore and had climbed out and were encouraging the other three on.  Now the twins had just reached the shore and were climbing out. Legolas was close, ever so close. But the swirling waters were intent on bringing the elf to join them at the bottom of the river. He found he could swim no longer and he was sinking. He could only see black as he started going down. A pair of hands grabbed hold of his arm and started to pull him to the surface. Beren pulled his little brother close to his chest as he tried to make his way to the shore.

"Beren, I'm going to throw you the sleeve of my tunic hold on!"

"Alright."

When Beren had jumped back in when his brother's head disappeared below the surface, the twins knew he was going to need help. So Elrohir had ordered his twin to take his top off as he pulled he own off, he had tied two of the sleeves together to create a makeshift rope. They now tossed their tunics to Beren who grabbed hold of it with one hands, while the other three pulled the two back to the shore. The pair were finally pulled onto the bank, where Legolas started coughing. Lúthien stroked his back gently as water made it's way out of his mouth.

"We have to move." Elladan hissed, the wargs were nearly on the river bank. Nodding Legolas got to his feet and the five ran  as fast as they could while being tired and wet.

            The children dove through undergrowth, fighting with the branches as they tried to get away. The attempts were futile, they found themselves surrounded completely. A warg stepped towards Legolas, and the blonde turned and laughed at it. 

"Legolas what are you doing?" Lúthien asked in a exasperated tone.

"I'm laughing in the face of evil."

"Why are you doing a thing like that?"

"We laugh at Elerossë and he sometimes goes away. So why not this evil?"

"Good point." Elrohir said and turning the elflings laughed at the wargs before them. The wargs, confused at the fact that their prey was not attacking them or running away in fear began to feel rather afraid themselves and turned and ran from the smiling children. They shrieked in joy, jumping around happily. Middle-earth watch out the elflings were coming.

_To be continued . . . ._

Characters guide.

Mirkwood.

King Thranduil: Legolas's father.

Queen Máraran: Legolas's mother.

Crown prince Beren: Legolas's brother. 

Princess Lúthien: Legolas's sister.

Elerossë: Captain of Mirkwood, good friend of Thranduil.

Rivendell.

Lord Elrond: Lord of Rivendell, husband of Celebrian.

Lady Celebrian: Best friend of Máraran. Mother of Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen.

Elladan: First of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Elrohir: Second of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Arwen: Only daughter of Elrond and Celebrian.

Glorfindel: Elven lord, advisor and good friend of Elrond.

Lorien.

Galadriel: Lady of Lorien and Mother of Celebrian.

Celeborn: Lord of Lorien and father of Celebrian.

Haldir: Master archer of Lorien. Good friend to Glorfindel and Elerossë.

Ereinion: An elf of Lorien.


	3. Chapter Three

Author's notes: What to say? I shall hopefully be doing a bonding session between the little elflings.

Disclaimer: On first chapter if needed.

First Meetings. Chapter Three.

            Elladan rolled over and nearly fell out of the tree. Glancing round, he saw everyone looked asleep. He sighed, no one saw him, his pride was saved. He swung his legs round so he was sitting on the branch. They had decided to sleep in the trees, where they were safe from any wargs that might come back and try to finish them off. He was about to jump down when a quiet voice broke the silence.

"Careful, you don't want to fall off."

Elladan's head snapped round to stare at a small form. Legolas smiled at the look on the twin's face. Elladan stuck his tongue out at the blonde before jumping off the branch, landing quietly on the ground. Legolas followed and the pair moved around, looking for some kind of food. The others started to slowly wake up, and joined the two in eating the few berries they had found.

"What shall we do now?"

"We ran forward in a strait line round about."

"We did, but does that matter?" Beren asked, staring at Elrohir.

"Yes, a bit further on from where we were the river curves away to the left and then goes back to being strait later. So instead of following the curved river, we can cut across the meadows. It will half our time."

The five smiled. Standing up Beren put the fire out.

"Well you know what the Captains of our realms say." The others turned questiongly to Beren, "Move out."

"That" Elladan said, a sparkle in his eyes, "And 'You little scamps, you had better run because I am going to kill you when I get a hold of you!'"

They laughed, turning and headed off towards Lorien.

~*~

            Celebrian slowed her horse up,  though desperately wanting to speed up. After they had split up, Galadriel, Celeborn and Haldir going one way and the others another. When nightfall had started to come, their husbands had insisted that they slow down. Elerossë had commented that even with their elven eyesight they wouldn't be able to spot the children in the dark if they were riding at such a fast pace. Celebrian and Máraran had disagreed, but had lost the argument so they had stopped cantering.

"Stop!"

They pulled their horses to a stop and turned round to see Thranduil and Elrond bending down over something. Jumping off their horses they ran over to their husbands.

"A fire. Made early this night."

"What do you mean 'early'?" Celebrian asked Thranduil.

"I mean that it was started but not kept alive, it went out hours ago."

"Care to explain what happened."

"They were attacked."

Glorfindel's voice floated to them from a few feet away. The blonde was bent over a set of tracks, wargs to be exact. There were elven footprints here and there but everything was muddled. But there was one set that lead directly to the wood before stepping where a sets of warg's prints crossed them. They set after them, not seeing the tracks across the other side of the river.

            Máraran glared at the warg as she sliced it's head off. Next to her Celebrian drove her sword through one. There were about twelve, not enough to stop a group of experienced warrior. But enough to take down six small elflings. Máraran gave an outraged cry as she drove her sword through the last one. She dropped to her knees, searching among the dead bodies and black blood for any sign of her children. The others joined her in their desperate search for the loved ones they had lost.

"They are not here." Celebrian stated quietly, "What does this mean?"

"It means, they may still be alive. Though I don't know where they could possibly be."

They sat their a heavy silence hanging in the air. Fear had vanished from their hearts and a deep pain had replaced it.

"Maybe my father and mother have had some luck."

Though Celebrian said it, she didn't believe it. Nor did anyone else.

"We should head back and . . . and we can send out elves to scour the countryside."

They nodded and slowly pushed themselves to their feet and started to make their way back to their horses. When a low growl emitted from the behind them. They turned to see a warg, Thranduil rose his sword to strike it down when another warg leapt into view. Thranduil blinked, and he suddenly spotted glowing eyes in the darkness. He glared as a company of orcs stepped out behind their wargs, smiling in a nasty way. A way that said 'I'm going to kill you.' Thranduil gripped his sword tighter, these foul creatures were going to perish especially as they might have their children. Orcs took great pleasure in torturing elves, especially if they were young or female. If they had them, they were going to pay.

            Celebrian found her limbs were growing tired as she cut down orc after orc. There were so many of them. She didn't know what they were doing here, it was quite far away from Lorien. But not so far away that the people of Lorien were safe. Pain flickered throughout her body as she felt an arrow embed itself in her left shoulder. Pushing off from the ground, she flipped in the air and landed a foot away from the nearest orcs. Sheathing her sword for a second she snapped the shaft of the arrow off. An orc turned and made it's way towards her, scimitar raised. Snarling Celebrian kicked at the orc, hitting it in the chest. It went flying, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. She didn't bother to check if it was dead, more orcs were coming towards her. She raised her sword and once more prepared for battle.

            It seemed like ages ago to the brunette they the orcs had first appeared, but the battle had not started that long ago. There were so many, too many. The huge pile of dead bodies was growing rapidly, but as it did the elves tired. They now had multiple scraps and cuts but were being driven on by one thought. The orcs had their children. The one thought rang through all of their minds, giving them the needed determination and will to carry on fighting. When the last orc was cut down, pain struck them. There children weren't there, there was no sign that the orcs had them. Coated in blood, a distraught Celebrian ran the way the orcs had come. Desperately trying to follow the path back, to where their children might just be. The other three followed, and they were soon lost in the inky blackness.

            Máraran stumbled slightly, Thranduil immediately reaching out and grabbing her arm. She shot him a smile, even if it was weak. He wrapped an arm round her slim shoulders and brought his eyes back to the ground, tracking the orcs footprints. They had been tracking them for about half an hour now. And it seemed to Thranduil that the possibility of the orcs joining the wargs, kidnapping the children, bringing them back this far _and then _turning round and coming back a second time were very unlikely. The six stopped when they reached a group of rocks all clustered together, causing a small shelter for the orcs. Which they had obviously used to hide from the sunlight the day before. But no orc remained, or any small elflings. Máraran gave a strangled sob and buried her face in Thranduil's chest. Celebrian didn't move, she was frozen staring out at the night sky. Elrond placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"Celebrian . . ."

"They're not dead!" She wailed out, spinning round to face him. A desperate look in her eyes, "They can't be, not my children, not my little sons."

"Celebrian . . ."

"They must have gone on further, back the way they came. They might have worked out that somebody would follow they just can't be dead."

He didn't reply, he just stared at her. Pain flashing in his eyes, as he told her without words that it really wasn't that possible. Silent tears began making their way down her face, as the prospect of her children being taken from her showed itself in full bloom.

"There may be a chance she's right, my Lord."

Elrond turned and stared at Glorfindel harshly.

"I don't mean to get your hopes up, but there is a chance if a bit slim, that they took them away. They might have branched off from their old track further up."

Elrond nodded, letting the information sink in. While Celebrian wrenched herself from her husband's grasp and started off up the track. Elrond reached out and grabbed her arm, "My love, we need to rest."

"No," Celebrian whispered, franticly shaking her head, "No I'm not stopping."

"My Lady, we would be better off regaining our strength and searching the track in the morning. We will have the advantage of being able to travel in the light, and they will stop shortly. We won't be able to see much in this darkness at any rate." Elerossë added. Celebrian nodded, allowing her husband to drag her into the forest to find a suitable tree to rest in.

            At first light the six made their way along the track, begging the Valar for a sign that orcs had indeed made off with the children this way. But as the hours dragged on it became apparent that there were no orcs carrying the five elflings this way. As night came they rested and the next morning, they turned tail and made their way back.

            So it was a rather subdued group that made their way into Lorien on the third day. The pain was evident on their faces, so they were very surprised when an elf dared to trespass on their grief.

"My Lords and Ladies, Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel have summoned you."

Angered that her mother would call her when she had just lost her children made Celebrian snap back at the poor elf.

"Can't you see that we are upset? Or has it not occurred to you that some people like to grieve in peace?"

"I – I am only doing what the Lord and Lady have said."

Celebrian shot him a filthy glare, while Máraran had a slightly softer expression. One that said that she had given up completely.

"Why has she summoned us?"

"I know not. But she wishes for you to follow me."

Nodding the six set off after the elf, who lead them to the dinning room. But no one was there, the elf gestured to the balcony. Curious the elves wandered over and stopped dead. Sitting by a table in the sun were their children. Legolas was swinging his legs, a smile decorating his face. As he nibbled on a piece of bread. Beren was standing on the balcony rail, crouched down so that he could talk to the others. Elladan was laughing at something the brunette had just said. While Lúthien patted Elrohir on the back, he had laughed and drank at the same time and had ended up chocking. Celeborn and Galadriel walked down from the other end and stopped by the six, the pair were trying to stop  themselves from smiling.

"They arrived two days ago. Slept all of yesterday and have been wondering if you needed them to come and save you."

None moved, they were still to shocked at seeing their children when they were sure they were dead. Legolas suddenly spotted his parents and smiled, holding out a piece of bread.

"Hungry?"

Máraran gave a small sob and ran over pulling Legolas into her arms. Legolas blinked, dropping the bread at the sudden change in places.

"What's the matter mother?"

Máraran glanced at her daughter before pulling the child into her arms as well. Celebrian had ran over and was hugging her children along with Elrond. While Thranduil ha pulled Beren off the wall and into his arms.

"What's the matter with you all? Nothing bad has happened!"

The adults stared at Elladan in disbelief, before they all shook their heads.

            Lúthien hugged the twins for the twentieth time before being dragged away by her mother. The rest of the trip had been peaceful, well compared to their first adventure. As no one could really call shrieks of horror and giggles of amusement peaceful, but it was for the parents. So it was a sad party of elflings that were saying goodbye. Legolas was clinging to the horse's mane and turning round so he could wave goodbye as the party split. Lúthien was fighting back tears as she saw her friends slowly walk away.

"They're not gone forever." Her father whispered in her ear, she nodded but still didn't smile.

"Don't worry we'll see each other again soon!" Elrohir called out waving to his new friends.

"Yes, and we can do it all over again because our adventure was so much fun!"

At that the parents silently vowed to themselves never to let their children out of sight next time. Or maybe just tie them up. So the children split, not knowing how much that simple adventure and bonding of friendship may save their lives in years to come.

_The End._

**_Thinking of a sequel, say if you want one._**

****

Characters guide.

Mirkwood.

King Thranduil: Legolas's father.

Queen Máraran: Legolas's mother.

Crown prince Beren: Legolas's brother. 

Princess Lúthien: Legolas's sister.

Elerossë: Captain of Mirkwood, good friend of Thranduil.

Rivendell.

Lord Elrond: Lord of Rivendell, husband of Celebrian.

Lady Celebrian: Best friend of Máraran. Mother of Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen.

Elladan: First of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Elrohir: Second of the twins of Elrond and Celebrian.

Arwen: Only daughter of Elrond and Celebrian.

Glorfindel: Elven lord, advisor and good friend of Elrond.

Lorien.

Galadriel: Lady of Lorien and Mother of Celebrian.

Celeborn: Lord of Lorien and father of Celebrian.

Haldir: Master archer of Lorien. Good friend to Glorfindel and Elerossë.


End file.
